Not that I’d dream of turning Rifftides into an educational institution, but here’s a chance to learn from a great pianist as he plays and talks about his music. Over the years, Dick Cavett has hosted his show on six networks. These two clips come from his period with the Public Broadcasting Service, 1977-1982, long before PBS began dumbing down its prime time programming with vapid fund-raising specials. But I digress.
Here, Cavett’s guest was Oscar Peterson (1925-2007). The first video recently showed up on the web and has been seen by few viewers. It is of marginal video quality but acceptable in the audio department. It has the standard promotional sildes with which Pedro Mendes starts and ends all of the videos he puts up. But who’s complaining; he puts them up. The second clip—crisp and clear—is a YouTube hit seen by more than 140,000 surfers. It continues the conversation. This is OP with Cavett in 1979.
Have a good weekend.